Drs. Beverly and Ramsey Gordon or Phoenix, AZ
How Chiropractic Care Helped Cure My Alcoholism
Since the age of 12,
when I took my first conscious drink, I was an alcoholic. I know because
even that first time, I drank to excess and I loved what drinking did
for my mind. Being intoxicated seemed to fulfill something inside me
that I couldn't find anywhere else. That was 1979.
Fast forward to New Year's Eve 2004 and I was in Dallas,
Texas attending a small informal wedding. Since my arrival
two days prior, I had been experiencing a mild, aching
discomfort in my left hip area. Of course I thought that whatever was
going wrong would simply work itself out.
With terrible life skills firmly in place, I drank
alcohol, smoked pot and took Vicoden to relieve the pain.
Nothing seemed to work very well and the pain grew steadily.
During the wedding I developed a limp and could only find relief
by sitting and combining the available chemicals and washing
away my reality completely.
I returned to Phoenix January 2 nd , 2005 and needed
to get some things at the grocery store. Across the street
I saw the chiropractor's office and resolved to go there
the next day seeking relief from my aching hip. After going through
the intake process, I began getting adjustments from Dr. Ramsey that
same week. Never once did I disclose my alcohol use to Dr. Ramsey,
I was just there to get my hip working again.
2005 proved to be a year of huge changes in my life.
The highlights were as follows; a relationship ended in
February, my mother's death in March, the introduction of Crystal Meth
in March, the beginnings of a new relationship in June, my mother's
memorial service back in Minnesota in June, the introduction of Crack
Cocaine in June, opening my home to the new relationship in August,
and the introduction of Ecstasy in September.
Throughout the year four things were
in common above and beyond the relationships and the experimentation.
First, my drinking had not only continued but had begun
to accelerate. Second, I somehow kept up with seeing Dr. Ramsey approximately
three times per week. Third, my life's profession was slowly
becoming nothing more than a nuisance to my substance abuse. Fourth,
I was becoming more despondent than I had ever been at any time of
my life.
With the
threat of losing my job and my relationship looming, I
entered detox on December 2 nd , 2005. I am proud to tell you that
I have not had a drink since that day. I know that in AA
they talk of a Higher Power that is bigger than one self.
We pray only for the peace of mind to distinguish that which we have
power over and that which we don't. We also pray for the strength to
make the right decisions over those things that we can control. The
rest we give back to the Higher Power.
Throughout my early days of sobriety, I struggled
with this concept of a Higher Power. In AA, we are taught
to define that Higher Power for ourselves. I heard a man
share that his idea of a Higher Power was anything that provoked awe
within him. That idea struck a cord in me and made the process of recovery
a whole lot easier for me.
During this time, I was beginning to think that chiropractic
care had something to do with my recovery also. I had listened
to Dr. Ramsey many times tell of how subluxations prevented
the brain from communicating correctly with the body. Somehow this
made sense to me also.
Around this time, I remember talking with my sister, who
is also in recovery, about the idea that chiropractic care
had something to do with my recovery. Her response was that it might
very well be since my road to recovery was my own and that if it made
sense to me, trust it.
The next time I visited Dr. Ramsey's office I noticed a
poster that had not been in the adjusting room before. Very simply
put, it states; The
Power that Made the Body, Heals the Body. Chiropractor's
Adjust. God Does the Rest.
There it was everything that
I needed to confirm in my mind that my Higher Power was
working in my life. It all made sense to me now. My brain and heart
were finally talking together the way they should. Before, everything
within my body had been so polluted with substances; it had lost the
ability to communicate effectively with itself or with
a Power greater than itself.
Today, I know the difference between what is good for me
and what is not. Going to the chiropractor is good; drinking
is not. That's not to say I don't make any more bad decisions
but I am willing to live with the consequences of those decisions.
Instead of masking it all with drugs and alcohol, then blaming all
my problems on outside things, I take responsibility for my decisions
and those things which are not in my control; I give back to my Higher
Power.
Thank you
Dr. Ramsey for helping me find the happiest most contented
place I have ever been in!
Scott, patient of Drs. Beverly and Ramsey Gordon
or Phoenix, AZ